The emcee walks to the microphone at centre stage of the Bell Park amphitheatre. He looks out at the crowd of thousands waiting in anticipation for the beginning of the day’s entertainment. The microphone squeals, “Thanks Everyone for coming out as CKSO Celebrates Summer ‘75! Now, would you please welcome to the stage … First Company!”
The first article in this two-part series detailing some of the history behind CKSO’s celebration of Summer brought many of you back to Bell Park with your memories of this forgotten Sudbury summer festival.
The memories that have been shared definitely show that, as Canadian rock group Lighthouse once sung, “there's nothin' better for your soul than lyin' in the sun and listenin' to rock 'n' roll.”
While looking back 40-plus years into the past, one of the most talked about aspects of CKSO’s annual celebration was the sheer size of the crowds and the feeling among those who experienced it all first hand, that growing up in that time period (with spectacles such as this) was the absolute greatest.
When Ann Marie Gillfillan Benoit saw the photos from the events, she was still amazed.
“Look at those crowds,” she said. “What a great time to be a teenager in Sudbury. We were so lucky.”
Reader Suzanne Doiron Pelletier agreed. “What a great time to have been a teenager in the 70s … so much fun.”
Pete Duguay echoes that sentiment. “Those were the days for sure … look at all the people there … it was always packed.” While reader Ron Raymond considers the CKSO celebrations at the Bell Park amphitheatre to be a “great place to go every summer … lots of bands … (the) place packed with young and old.” These comments led reader John Hamalainen to share, “What a party (it was) and well-behaved crowd.”
Reader Tammy Thiv felt that these shindigs offered much more to its participants (compared to other events) since “it was free! There was no entrance fee. There were no fences or gates to keep people out.” And for that, she “miss(es) those days so much.” As Keith N Suzanna Bradbury wrote on the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook group, “That is when life was fun … and socializing was socializing (creating) fun memories.”
Dave Jones considers it “the best party ever … (I) would wait all year for it.” While Jane Ney “went every year and got badly sunburned” (apparently not learning any lessons from the previous year). Charlene Shattock was another who “was there every year and always had a great time.”
David MacKay (not without a bit of bragging, even after all these years) let us all know that “(his) aunt worked at CKSO and she would get us passes to get in and sit right up on the stage … We were so cool.”
Two readers lamented that such a fun time ever came to an end.
As Perry Sarazin wrote, “Those summer days were a fantastic day. I miss them. It was sad when they cancelled them.” This feeling, being echoed by Bruce Martin who responded, “Yup, those times were exceptional. Everyone looked forward to that celebration. So unfortunate when they cancelled it.”
Well, as the old saying goes, sometimes the few (or even one person) can ruin a good thing for everyone else. Ray Prevost confirmed the reason behind the cancellation of this wonderful salute to summer, with his responding comment that “a bunch of drunken hoodlums causing a riot involving the police destroyed (any) future ‘Welcome Summer’ (events).”
Not unexpectedly (considering the host of the party), the most popular part of the CKSO celebrations was (and apparently still is) the bands and their music. As Brenda Piquette wrote, “Some of my best memories of Sudbury are Summer Days at Ramsey Lake listening to music.”
Reader Diane Maisonneuve remembers that “the first time I went, the band opened with Kool & the Gang’s 1980 hit, belting out “‘Ce-le-brate good times, come on!’ and ever since, when I hear that song, I think of that day.”
During these events, Eleanora Connors would go out to the amphitheatre specifically because she “loved First Company (as) a couple (of them) were my students.” Those were “Good days in Sudbury!” she continued. Rod St.Denis, who was the drummer for First Company, remembers that “(we) played that gig eight years running. We were always the first to go on. It was incredible.”
Ed Motychka “loved going there (as) I was a young musician at the time, meeting all the guys that were doing what I wanted to do … I had some great tutors over that time.” Carl Gustafson still believes that he “played with so many incredible players and wonderful people in those days.”
For Andy Beland, “some of the CKSO gigs are a little fuzzy.” But among his recollections, he continued, “(The band) Steel showed up in a limo and the crowd went berserk. I was in the sound booth with Dave Lawler from Half Nelson sound systems. He was shaking his head. Steel was so loud that only the vocals and drums were coming through the PA. The guitars and bass were just the amplifiers on stage … it was crazy loud.”
One of Sudbury’s own Bluez Brotherz, Vic Thériault believes to this day that “this event was unbelievable! All local acts every year.” As he continued, “I was the entertainment booker (and stage manager) contracted to CKSO … for these events prior to the riot. I had famed Half Nelson Systems doing sound! There really was no bigger show than these for all those years! And every band brought their ‘A’ game … (and) made some great friends in the process.”
Reader Mike Derks remembers being Theriault’s helper, having “had the pleasure of being Vic Theriault’s lil gopher boy at my dad’s begging to keep me from terrorizing my sisters.”
Jamie Canapini’s band “Crystal” played there as well. “It was such great fun and super crowds,” he wrote, “I can’t remember the year, 1976 or 1977 (but) I do remember the weather was great and the crowds were really appreciative of the music. It was a great scene where everybody assembled to take in the groove of local bands.”
Richard Righi remembers that he “had the privilege to be there, playing onstage, along with my old friends (Everett Vallier/Ron Krane/Dave McRae/Steve Zacherkowny).” However, he “don’t remember much afterwards...”
Mike McDonald “played summer 1983 with Treazon. It was the only year that it was on Saturday and Sunday … We closed Saturday night and the band Axxis closed Sunday night. Wow, that was some good times!”
Germain Brunet remembers that “we had a blast playing at Bell Park for ‘CKSO Here Comes Summer’ in 1985. I still recall the first song we played … it was ‘Dancing in the Dark’ by Bruce Springsteen. I remember that because it was very windy and one of my cymbals started tipping over so I had to grab it and hold it while one of the roadies came and taped it down. Luckily, the song went off without a hitch.”
Finally, a couple of our readers commented about the bathtub races which were a fixture of many of the events. These readers are clearly proud, even after all these years, of the hard work that was put into making a more seaworthy vessel than the SS Minnow.
Dan Melancon pointed out that one of the pictures included with the previous article showed the bathtub entry from Dominion Pegasus Helicopters. As he wrote, “Ken Merrill and I built it using a set of helicopter floats and we won the best looking tub trophy. We used the Bell Jet Ranger to sling it into the lake and made a pass down the shoreline in front of the amphitheatre.”
Dan Desgroseillers shared a couple of photos of Sudbury's Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Admiral Mountbatten's entry. “Mark Edward had a big hand in the design and construction,” he stated, “along with my brother, Bob Desgrosseilliers, as our artistic talent and, of course, our Cox'n Jim Prudhomme.” (No mention was made of its success in the competition, but from the looks of it, it had its eyes on the prize.)
Reader Bev Barlow (and prolific follower at the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook group) summed up perfectly everyone’s reminiscences with her succinct comment, “if you were alive you were there!!!”
Well dear readers, the sun is starting to set and the day is growing cooler. The hand of the nearby sunbather reaches out to that grey transistor radio sitting in the cool grass of Bell Park. The song emanating from the speaker agreeing wholeheartedly with the spirit of the day that is now coming to an end:
“Sunny days
Oh, sunny, sunny, sunny days
Ain't nothin' better in the world, you know
Than lyin' in the sun with your radio”
With a quick flick of the wrist, the dial is turned sharply to the left and the backlight on the dial dies out. Our sunbather picks up her radio and her towel and heads for the parking lot. Thank you for sharing your memories with us for this “Special Edition” column. See you here again in two weeks for another trip back through time.
Jason Marcon is a writer and history enthusiast in Greater Sudbury. He runs the Coniston Historical Group and the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook page. Memory Lane is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.